Handle with Care
by MeBellis
Summary: In our lives there are days, weeks, months, and years - however you look at it, that's a heck of a lot of moments. Hitsukarin drabbles and one-shots.
1. Unfreakingbelievable

_Handle with Care_

A/N: _I've recently noticed a supreme lack of Hitsukarin one-shots/chapter one-shot stories on FF. So, to amend such a problem, I made one myself. I don't know now often these will be updated (kind of whenever I have inspiration), but I already have a few done, so expect some to come up soon. They range in rating and levels of happiness/fluff; because of this, I'm going for a safe rating of "T". _

Disclaimer:_ None of it belongs to me, unfortunately. But wouldn't it be so cool if it did? _

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Chapter One: Un-freaking-believable

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"Dude, you can't be serious."

Hitsugaya walked on the pond carefully, his skates gliding over the layer of ice as he moved. He held out his arms on both sides and glared at Karin in front of him as she effortlessly glided backwards to talk to him.

He clenched his jaw, "What is it now, Karin?"

Karin shook her head in disbelief. "You can't skate. You actually _can not_ skate."

"These shoes are ridiculous," he snapped, "blades aren't made to walk on. Who came up with this?"

Karin shrugged and skated in a circle around him, coming up to his side. "I dunno – the Canadians? Eskimos? Man, who cares?"

Hitsugaya balled his fists in aggravation and hissed, "I need to know who to kill."

"Good luck with that," Karin chuckled, snickering as he fumbled. She watched her best-friend skit around on the ice, his posture wobbling just to stay up straight. She shook her head in disbelief. "Oh my God, you're hopeless. Here, let me-" she moved so they were standing face to face and grabbed the sides of his arms, pulling him along with her.

"See?" she asked, "It's not so bad."

"Let me go."

"Nope. You're going to learn to skate, Toushirou, whether you like it or not. And let's be honest, I could totally catch you on the ice. Which is so sad, by the way, considering your zanpakutou and all."

"For Shinigami's sake woman, there are other people here!"

She glided smoothly along the ice with Hitsugaya in tow. "That's because it's a public skate, Toushirou. You can't just expect everyone else to just not be here."

"I look stupid," he muttered, trying to look everyone but at Karin.

"Yes, you do," she agreed, "But what's wrong with that? Everyone's got to learn some time or another."

"Not me," he said defiantly, "I only do things I'm good at."

"Then you're boring as hell," she instantly responded. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

Hitsugaya looked at his feet and grumbled, "I think it's wherever my sense of dignity went."

"Exactly! So what does it matter what you look like now?"

Hitsugaya said a few curses under his breath and Karin smiled. "That's the spirit!" she exclaimed, "Next week we're going paint balling!"

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A/N:_Oh, Karin, don't you know Hitsugaya never comes out in the day-time? The next one(s) will be up soon!_


	2. Shirtless

_HK – Handle with Care_

A/N:_ I'm updating this early b/c I'll be gone for essentially the next two weeks and won't be replying/uploading anything. It's short, but better than nothing, right? Note: takes place when Hitsu and Karin are older (late teens-ish)._

Disclaimer:_ Still don't own it._

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Chapter Two – Shirt(less)

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He took off his shirt.

It was blistering hot outside as the tenth division did its sparring practice together, preforming a monthly tournament to determine promotion or demotions in the ranks. Hitsugaya had now gone six rounds with a few of his officers, saving Matsumoto and Karin as his two biggest challenges for last. Now that it was her turn, he had decided to take off his shirt.

Karin's sword faltered a bit in her hands as she blinked. Once, twice.

If the Eleventh Division had decided to come around handing out daises and starting a peace circle, she wouldn't have noticed.

Because Hitsugaya Toushirou took off his shirt.

She heard clattering noises as the only other girl in the division (besides Mastumoto, who was supposed to be right back - about twenty minutes ago) dropped her zanpakutou on the ground beside Karin. No one made a move to pick up the weapon as the girl continued to look at her captain's bare chest, trance-like.

"Hot _damn_," she breathed.

Karin just nodded dumbly in agreement.


	3. Undercover

A/N: _I'm back! I know I haven't responded to any reviews yet (on vaca - I haven't had Internet for almost two weeks) so I'll get right on that after I post this. This is another light-hearted chapter... but be prepared! I've prepared an angsty-ish one next (though I haven't decided which out of the two I have to use). __And I've decided to start accepting drabble ideas/requests if you have them. I can't garuntee I'll get to them, but I want to keep _Handle with Care _going as long as possible._

_On a more serious note, I'd like for eveyone reading this to think about Japan, and the problems they're having. Even if all you can do is take a moment to recognise and pray for them, that's enough. _

Disclaimer: _I own none of the rights to Bleach and unfortunately never plan to. _

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Chapter Three: Undercover

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Karin swung her sword in her hands absentmindedly, letting her feet take her to the training grounds without thinking. She had walked this same route from her division's headquarters a million times: through the cobbled walkway, past the ninth division, through a back alley that she technically wasn't supposed to know about, through a few bushes, past the brunette _in_ said bushes, over the… wait. Brunette?

Karin stopped walking and turned to the line of shrubbery, standing on her tip toes to try and get a better view of the shadowed figure. All that was visible was the small of the person's head and part of their body. Not really enough to distinguish who they were, or why they were lurking around her division's sparring area. Deciding to further investigate, Karin moved in.

She paid mind to sneaking over quietly, her footsteps only whispers on the dirt. The closer she got, the more she could make out. The figure was actually a girl and, by her size, she didn't look much older than Karin. She had chocolate brown hair pinned up in two buns and a sash strapped to her arm with a flower Karin couldn't match to a division. And as soon as she got within arms-distance, Karin reached out her hand and dropped it on the brunette's shoulder.

"Sup, stalker."

"Ahh!" The girl yelled, whipping around in a flurry of short-curses, screams and splutters. "I-I wasn't doing anything! Nothing, I swear! Honest, I was just…" the girl stopped when she recognized Karin; when Karin recognized her back, she pulled her brow in confusion.

"Hinamori?" she asked. "Hinamori Momo of the fifth division? What on Earth are you doing all the way over here? Isn't your division all the way-"

She was cut off when Hinamori's hand that shot up like a snake, clasping a hand over her mouth. "Shhh!" she hissed, looking around. "You'll get us caught!"

"Couugth?" Karin asked, her voice muffled by Hinamori's hand, "Couggth buf wyysatt?"

Hinamori looked confused. "What did you say?"

"I _surad_," Karin repeated, "couuufsh byauf wauft?"

Hinamori leaned in closer to try and understand. Karin rolled her eyes and swatted Momo's hand off her mouth.

"Caught by what?" she yelled.

"_Shhhhh_!" Hinamori said in urgency, waving her hands in front of her face, "You have to be quiet or he'll hear us!"

"Who'll hear us?"

"Shiro-chan of course!" said Hinamori, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Do you want him to come over here and find us?"

That got Karin's attention.

"What..." she scrambled over to Hinamori's spot in the bushes, shuffling until she could see through the leaves, too. "Toushirou's where?"

Hinamori moved up beside her and pointed through a few twigs to a gap in the foliage. "There!"

Karin focused her eyes until she could see Hitsugaya through the branches and twigs. He was out on the training grounds, but he wasn't exactly training. He was pacing back and forth on the dirt field, making hand motions and appearing to talk to himself. His white hair was in disarray, like he had been running his hands through it, and he looked frustrated.

"What the heck is he doing…?" Karin mumbled to no one in particular, leaning in and using her hands to push back some of the bush for a better view.

"I don't know!" Hinamori answered, throwing her hands up in the air. "He's just been like that, _pacing_, for hours! I just came to ask about a report he filled out for my division on our training ground time slots, and when I saw that this was his time I came over here and found him like this! Like, like…" she grasped for a word but couldn't find any. "well, you see. I'm worried about him, Karin."

Karin nodded, watching Histugaya walk compulsively. "Yeah," she agreed. "But... why are you in the bushes?"

Hinamori blushed and looked down. "I-I didn't want to interrupt. He looked really pensive I just, I don't know. I thought it'd be rude."

Karin raised an eyebrow. Hinamori blushed a deeper shade and Karin just decided to let it slide. Instead, she stood up. "Alright then, so why don't we just go talk to him now? If he's been here for hours he's clearly not getting anywhere anyway."

"No!" Hinamori said, grabbing Karin's wrist. "We can't! What if it's something really important? Or something we're not supposed to hear?"

Karin looked down at Hinamori, then back at the clearing where Hitsugaya was. "You care that much?"

Hinamori nodded and Karin sighed, plopping back down on the dirt ground. "Fine then," she said. "I guess we'll just wait together for him to finish."

Hinamori smiled – weakly, but gratefully. She shifted in her spot on the ground, giving more space for Karin to join her. Karin grinned and moved over beside the brunette. After a few minutes sitting in silence waiting for their friend, Karin got bored and yawned, turning to Hinamori.

"So," she began, "what's new with you?"

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A/N: _What Toushirou was thinking/debating over is up for spectulation. Who knows, I might just write another chapter from his POV if I can think of something good. Oh, and no Hinamori-bashing in the reviews please. She's not my fav, but she's growing on me. Peace and love, people, peace and love._


	4. Crows

_Handle with Care_

A/N: _This was intended to be posted last Friday (it was done and all), but for some reason FF wouldn't let me edit my stories...__...but it's up now, so it's all good. __Oh, and now that I've added this chapter, the titles so far line up as (and I'm adding in a few minor filler words): Un-freaking-believable, those are real shirtless undercover crows. _

_By the way, lilies (which will be in this one a lot) are the symbol of the tenth division._

Disclaimer: _Still don't own anything but my imagination._

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Chapter Four: Crows

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Time's a bit of a funny thing. When you're having a good one, it speeds up. When you're at your worst, it slows down. And, right before you're about to die, it stops all together.

Karin showed up dressed in all black, a solemn cluster of lilies in her hands as she stood together with her division. There were masses of shinigami who had gathered to stand in silence for comrades, both living and dead. It was a memorial of all who had fallen in battle, all the lives each of them had lost to become shinigami, and for those whose lives would eventually be lost.

Karin looked up and saw two large black silhouettes, soaring in stark contrast against the blue sky. They weaved and circled around each other, dancing like birds of prey. She furrowed her brow and leaned forward, whispering at Hitsugaya's shoulder, "What are those?"

He was dressed in full black as well, even going to far as to discard his white haori for the ceremony. He turned his head ever so slightly to hear her. "What?"

"Those creepy birds," she said. "What are they?"

He shifted back to his normal place. "They're called the birds of warning. One symbolizes the deaths of those who've already passed, the other, for those we will one day kill."

Karin made a face and looked back up to the sky. "That _is_ creepy."

"They only show up one day of the year, so just don't look at them."

Karin moved uneasily. It was like they were watching her, although they weren't even looking down. She turned away from them and looked back to the giant memorial stone in the centre of the Shinigami building. It was old and grey, and had what seemed like more than a million names signed on its sides.

People said that every time someone died, their name would magically appear on the stone, and it would get bigger. Karin wondered where her name was on it.

She looked back to Hitsugaya and sighed; the dreary mood starting to wear on her.

"How long have these ceremonies been going on for?" she asked.

Hitsugaya moved the lilies he had in his own hands around a bit and answered, "Every year since I can remember. It's said they've happened ever since the twelve divisions were first established."

"It's really depressing," she pointed out. "Do you guys have any days for celebration? You know, for all the people you've saved?"

"They don't know us," he replied simply. "It makes more sense to have a day for those whose lives will never be the same because of us. Shinigami aren't all good you know, I had hoped you'd understood that when you signed up."

"But…" Karin began, somewhat confused, "don't we save the souls when they turn back from hollows to spirits? I thought they all went off to Soul Society and eventually found peace or something."

"Not all of them. And we don't even know about what happens when a shinigami dies." Hitsugaya looked up to the sky at the two crows flying overhead. "I've lost a couple of good friends that way."

Karin watched him as he sighed and dropped his head back down to looking at his bouquet of lilies. "I have one for every one of them," he said softly, rubbing the petals in his fingers. "Every member of the tenth division that's died under my command."

Karin didn't know what to say. By next year there would probably be more of those flowers, and she didn't want to be one of them. She also realized Hitsugaya had the potential to be one, too.

"You're not going to die again, right?"

Hitsugaya paused before he turned his head to her and tried at a slight smile. "I hope not."

Karin frowned but nodded and shifted back to her spot directly behind him, hoping that just hope would be enough.


	5. Of Grave Importance

A/N: _I've been really sick this week, so this one's short and quickly done. That and I had to upload ASAP so I could share some exciting news: **there's another Hitsukarin episode!** Not just one! Go watch Bleach episode 316 and see what I mean. Slight teaser/spoiler: Karin brings Hitsu home. Honestly._

_Note: One of my friends told me I need to add somethinbg a little more romantic/heart-wrenching. This is my best shot at Hitsukarin sap. _

Disclaimer: _Mine? Nope._

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Chapter Five: Of Grave Importance

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"Hey, Karin…?" I felt a hand press on my shoulder and, even before he had coaxed me to turn around, I knew who it was by the voice.

"What is it Toushirou?"

He looked different than normal, more serious. His face had grime and scratches on it from our battle, and there was a distinct red stain bleeding through a few of the bandages on his chest. I couldn't help myself, my hand reached out and touched the area directly beside the cut. I drew my brow as he winced.

"I need to change your bandages," I whispered, trying not to feel guilty that he got that particular mark protecting me when I was supposed to be watching my own back.

"That's not important," he said, grabbing my hand and lightly taking it off. "I need to tell you something."

I tried not to notice that he hadn't let go of my hand yet.

"It's… it's really important you hear this," he said, voice gravelly. I had never seen him so concentrated before. He looked directly into my eyes, and I tried to not look embarrassed.

"Toushirou, stop staring at me. There people here-"

"I don't care." Okay, that stopped me. "I don't care that there are other people here, Karin. You need to hear this. You can't forget. No matter what, you can never forget."

I was transfixed on his eyes again. "Alright… I won't. I swear."

That seemed to relieve him. His shoulders dropped slightly and he sighed, like I was about to lift a heavy burden off his shoulders and onto mine.

"You can't ever forget that I...I…"

_Ring, ring, ring!_

I jolted up in bed. My hair was frizzy and my eyes were spread open comically wide. I spun to my right at the alarm clock by my bedside table, ringing like mad. I thought back to my dream, to Toushirou, to the words I wasn't mean to forget, and looked back to the clock.

"Aw, hell. Now it's going to bug me all day."


	6. Check Up

A/N: A_ few things: firstly, I'M TAKING REQUESTS/IDEAS. Don't be shy! I can't guarantee to produce exactly what you ask, but inspiration = more chapters and I want to keep this story running as long as possible. Secondly, does anyone out there wear glasses? I think I need them, but they irritate me and contacts feel strange in my eyes. Any ideas?_

_This fic takes place in the Lost Substitute Shinigami arc, so Ichigo can't see spirits. That might clear some stuff up._

Disclaimer:_ ha ha ha ha ha, wait. You were serious? _

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Chapter Six: Check-up

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"I _told _you Ichi-nii, I'm _fine._"

"You practically barfed up a lung!" Karin rolled her eyes as Ichigo yelled and stomped behind her, speed-walking to catch up to the little sister who had tried to ditch him back at the house. "You shouldn't even be out of bed! Yuzu's still home sick!"

"Yuzu doesn't have my immune system," Karin replied breezily, slowing down only slightly so they could walk side by side. "And what about you, huh? You were playing soccer in the _rain_ during your last game."

"You were watching!"

"With an umbrella!"

"That didn't even _work_! You ran onto the field at the end to congratulate us!" Ichigo snapped, slinging his bag from the left to the right side of his back and rubbing the sore shoulder. He grunted at the switch. "Damn, these textbooks suck."

"Maybe if you got a real backpack instead of that man-purse, it wouldn't hurt so much."

Ichigo scowled. "Ha ha ha, real mature Karin. You want dinner tonight? Shut it."

Karin shrugged. "I can make my own food."

"And get even more sick? Your dinner's toxic, stupid."

"Idiot!"

"Moron!"

"Loser!"

"Stupid!"

"You already said that!"

Karin huffed and crossed her arms across her chest. "We are _never_ walking to school together again, agreed?"

Ichigo scoffed. Karin decided to take that for a yes and dropped the conversation. Whenever they weren't arguing , or talking about sports, or arguing about sports, they were in silence. It didn't seem like much of a brother-sister relationship, but Karin never minded it - it was oddly comfortable.

Eventually they settled into a mutual quiet, save for their footsteps scratching on the pavement. Neither of them said anything, so Karin took the time to let her mind wander to other things. Namely, if Ichigo really wasn't going to cook for her tonight, what _was_ she going to eat?

She ultimately became so caught up in her thoughts that Karin almost overlooked the sudden reiatsu spike in the air. Almost, but as she halted to a stop and her mind clicked to the source of the familiar sense, not enough to miss placing the reiatsu immediately. They were both Shinigami, and they were both two she had recognized from before. She turned her head to the railing her and Ichigo had just past and saw two people looking at her. One was a tall and busty woman, perched on the metal rim of the railing, the other was a boy that looked around her age with a white cloak and hair to match.

Matsumoto and Hitsugaya. Karin furrowed her brows, what were they doing here?

"What are you-?"

She stopped talking when the boy raised a finger to his lips. Ichigo turned around.

"Hey Karin, you coming?"

She looked back to her brother; he was a ways away from her by now, most likely he had kept walking without noticing she had stopped until now.

"Huh?" she glanced over her shoulder back to the couple behind her, the boy still motioning for her to be quiet and the woman waving at her. "Oh, yeah. Just thought I saw someone I knew."

She jogged back to her brother's side. He gave her a look and scanned the railing to see who it was.

"From school?"

Karin paused and took one more look back. Hitsugaya had dropped his hand and held us a small black cellular phone instead, dangling it in his hand to single her. _I'll call you later._

"Not really," Karin answered. "Just someone checking in."

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A/N: _They're such kind siblings._


	7. Milestones

_A/N:_ This one chapter is almost as long as all my other chapters put together 0_0. Oh well, it's currently my favourite. It was a lot of fun to write :) Hope you like it as much as I do.

Happy long weekend to all those who get it!

_Disclaimer_: Don't own Bleach or any of it's characters.

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Chapter Seven: Milestones

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_1:00 am._

When Hitsugaya had first woken up that morning, the first thing he noticed was Karin's absence.

It was strange, though at first more unusual than alarming. Karin was never one to stick to schedules, but for her to be up at… sweet Shinigami it was _1:00 am_ – something was wrong.

How he knew? He wasn't quite sure. But ever since he had first met her, Hitsugaya had always been very... aware of her. It wasn't intention per say, he'd just lways sort of _known_.

Now awake and aware, Hitsugaya slowly crawled out of his sheets and bed – better to be safe than sorry. He slipped on his black uniform, sans haori, and made his way to his door quietly as not to awake the other members of his division.

The tenth division's barracks were openly spaced; it was never crowed or cluttered with mess because they weren't usually hosts for the parties Matsumoto loved so much. The main room only ever bared the necessities of furniture: a few chairs, kitchen area, individual rooms with bathrooms, windows, couch, table, and a small back yard. Most of the officers had their own quarters with family, but for those who didn't, the building was open to any who could find a free bed.

Thankfully, most of the officers were gone on a mission and not around, so despite being careful, Hitsugaya didn't pay _too_ much mind to playing it stealthy. He walked normally across the room, but kept the lights off. He could hear her outside even before he reached the door. There were a few shuffling noises, the sound of rocks being thrown into the pond, and many short and low curses.

Yep, that was her.

The door was already unlatched when he got there, so he just walked through it and stepped into the open air, not even noticing the slight dip in temperature. Karin was exactly were he thought she would be: in front of the pond, staring at the water like it was the cause of all her life's problems. She looked more depressed than he had ever seen her before - although, considering she was usually never depressed, that wasn't really saying much.

"Kurosaki? What are you doing out here?"

She turned and met his eyes, and the moment was gone. "Hey," she said, grinning. "Why are you up so late… or well, early?"

He shrugged noncommittally. "Just felt like it."

Karin nodded. Tension filled the air, and she began to play with the stone she had in her hands. Hitsugaya noticed, and commented on it.

"If you're trying to skip it, you'd be better off with a thinner, smoother one."

"Huh?" She looked down to the rock as if seeing it for the first time. "Oh, the rock. Nah, I'm just kind of…" she whipped it into the water and watched the splash rise up into the air, "working on my throwing arm. Pretty sweet, huh?"

"For a man."

"Shut up."

Hitsugaya snorted, a bit of an odd mixture between a chuckle and scoff. He moved beside her and bent down, muddling with his choice of stones before he found the perfect one for throwing.

"This," he began, crouching lower and getting into a stance, "is how to properly skip a stone."

His arm followed an extension, first from his back to his front, wrist flicking at the end to send the stone flying. It jumped on the surface of the water – once, twice, three times, eventually making it all the way to seven.

Karin examined the toss with a critical eye. "Not bad, not bad. My turn."

She leaned forward and picked up the first rock she saw, flipping her hair out of her face and craning back to throw.

"Woah," Hitsugya said, gaping at her posture. "What the hell are you doing?"

Karin drew back from her stance and sighed dramatically. "What does it look like I'm doing, Sherlock? Skipping stones."

"Like _that?_ You're more likely to take out your eye."

"Really?" she said incredulously, throwing the stone anyway. It dropped unceremoniously into the water with a loud _plop,_ not skipping even once. She scowled. "Damn. I was aiming for your eye."

Hitsugaya rolled his two –very intact- eyes, and picked up another stone before handing it out to her. "Again," he commanded.

She took the stone from him and got back into her pose. Right before she threw the rock she looked at him, "You know, just because you're my captain, doesn't mean you get to order me around _all_ the time-"

"Now, Kurosaki."

Karin grumbled. "Fine, fine, fine." She placed her weight on her back foot and got ready to throw, and again was interrupted.

"No. No, no, no, no. Wrong."

Karin stood back up and glared. "What? What am I doing wrong?"

"Everything. Posture, balance, skill, tactic… it's horrible."

She extended her arms. "Fine then, cap-i-tan. Teach away. What do I do?"

"Firstly," he started, moving to her back and placing his hands on her shoulders. "These have to go down."

"_Excuse me_?"

"Your shoulders, Kuroskai. Down." Karin muttered but listen to his anyway. She dropped her shoulders and her body went with her, crouching into a lower stance.

"Better?" she asked.

"Much. See your body steadying itself on your haunches when your shoulders drop? That's your battle instincts kicking in. Now, hold the rock as if it were your zanpakutou, right before you swing it down."

Karin looked up to him. "Seriously? Like I'm going to cut the water with a pebble?"

"Just do it."

Karin complied, and got into position. "There," she grouched. "What next?"

"Remember your arm doesn't come the whole way across. It's your wrists that do the real work. Got it?" Karin nodded. "Good. Now, throw."

Karin shifted back from foot to foot, testing her weight. It didn't seem like she was skipping stones, but back in the training grounds. It was just another technique, and who knew? Maybe one day she'd need to know how to chuck a rock at a hollow.

Her arm followed in a smooth line, gliding from point A to point B, but screwing up at point C. Instead of flicking from her wrist, she released the stone on the momentum of her arm's swing, soaring the rock straight across the water and at a tree on the other side. Karin winced when a piece of bark chipped off at the power of her throw, the rock thoroughly embedded into the wood.

"That… wasn't right, was it?"

Hitsugaya sighed and handed her another pebble. "One more time."

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_1:40 am._

"You're really terrible at this, you know?"

"Oh zip it," Karin growled, fishing around for another rock. "The tree will survive."

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_2:00 am._

"So, why are you out here anyways?"

Karin fidgeted against the question, pulling up the defence. "Why do you want to know?"

"Just because,"' Hitsugaya answered plainly. "I mean, if you're going to be out here throwing rocks all night, I might as well get a decent explanation as to why one of my officers is going to be dead on her feet tomorrow during examination."

He looked at her pointedly and waited for an answer. Karin squirmed uncomfortably, but eventually gave in and sighed. She leaned back deeper against the damaged tree, the pair of them already having moved the entire perimeter of the lake to find more skip-worthy stones.

"It's Ichi-nii again."

Somehow that didn't come as a surprise, but Hitsugaya calmly waited for elaboration. "And…?"

"You know about him leaving for more of his _'super-secret-special-training'_, right? The one he can't even bring the balls to tell his own family about?"

Hitsugaya saw where this was going.

"Well, he left this morning," she continued. "No good-bye, which at least he normally does with Dad, no letter, no hell-butterfly, no anything. He just up and left."

"So you're mad?" Hitsugaya ventured, not good at dealing with people with all these emotions.

"'Course I'm mad! I'm pissed! He didn't even say bye to _Yuzu_ who's probably all tucked away with Dad right now, crying her heart out."

Karin huffed, loosing her gaze into the ripples in the water. Hitsugaya really hoped there were no fish in the pond - it's not that he ever checked, but he still felt guilty for spearing rocks at them in an attempt to pacify Karin. He mentally made a note to buy more girl fish to make the boy fish happy.

"He… he didn't even tell _me_ where he was going, and we're both Shinigami. I get him not telling me when I was just a kid in Karakura, but I'm not anymore. I'm one of him. One of you."

Hitsugaya held a respectful silence the whole time; something indefinable kept telling him that what she had said was important, but probably not the entire story.

"So, every one of the first nights he left when I was with Yuzu, we'd pull all-nighters. We weren't going to get any sleep he was gone, so we figured we could put all our lost sleep into one night. You know, keeping each other up 'till sunrise and just doing the odd things. It sorta became a habit."

"So that means you're not going to sleep tonight?"

"Nope. Not even if I have to tape my eyelids open."

Hitsugaya paused and looked up into the night sky. It was relatively warm, only a few clouds overhead, he was almost half-way through the night by now, and he would never get back to sleep knowing Karin was out here alone anyway…

He sighed in defeat. "Fine."

She turned away form the water and gave him a look. "Fine what?"

"Fine I'll stay up with you. You should have just asked."

"I never needed you to -"

"Just until sunrise. Neither of us sleeps. Agreed?"

He held out his hand. Karin watched his face for a few seconds, trying to figure out what was going on behind it. Eventually, she gave in. She took his hand in hers and shook it.

"Agreed."

...

.

_2:45 am._

They were having a great conversation until Karin noticed she was getting wet.

The discussion had threaded through family issues and back, eventually winding up at the kind of accommodations they kept in their room.

"So, aside from my three soccer posters and that embarrassing picture that we _will never speak of again,_ I guess there really isn't" -_Drop- _"much else. But I like it better than living" -_Drop-_ "in a home outside of the barracks." -_Drop-_ "Hey, Toushirou, do you... do you feel that?"

_Drop._

Hitsugaya furrowed his brow and looked up, stretching his hands out and turning them to face the sky, palms up. "Rain," he observed. "We should probably head inside."

"Nah," Karin replied, disregarding him and getting comfortable. "It'll pass."

Hitsugaya checked the cloudy sky. "Are you sure about that?"

"Of course I'm sure. My zanpakutou's water-type, I know this kind of stuff. Trust me, give it two minutes and you see that there's _no way_ that-" the rain started to pour down at a faster pace.

_Drop, drop, drop, drop._

"-I could be wrong."

The rain started to come down even harder then, pounding into the dirt and on their heads until they were both almost completely drenched. Hitsugaya was going to wait for Karin to say the next word, but once he got wet enough he could barely see in front of his soaked hair, he decided to take initiative.

"We should probably go inside."

...

.

_3:30 am._

"Go fish."

Hitsugaya drew another card, pulling it up to his hand. He stared at the fan of cards he had accumulated – substantially larger than Karin's was.

"Is there a method to cheating at this game?"

Karin reached out and plucked a card from him, pairing it with the last one of her own. She grinned.

"Hook, line," She slid the final match of cards on the table, flaunting them before Hitsugaya. "and sinker. Care for a rematch?"

...

.

_4:38 am._

"So… what else did you and your sister used to do to kill time?"

Karin paused and put a finger to her lips, contemplative. Then, she grinned.

...

.

_4:40 am._

"How much longer?"

Hitsugaya checked the clock on the wall. "Fifty-two seconds."

Karin squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled deeply. Her palms were starting to get the tingling feeling that happened before approaching numb, and all the blood to her head was starting to give her a seismic migraine. She groaned and pushed down harder into the floor, mustering the strength to keep her legs straight in the air in the proper handstand position.

"My face is red?"

"Like a tomato."

"How much more?"

"Forty-four seconds."

Karin groaned.

...

.

_5:00 am._

"Hey, the rain's slowing down."

Hitsugaya looked up from his fan of poker cards - he had refused to play 'Go Fish' again after loosing six consecutive games - and turned his head over his shoulder to see the window behind him. A few drops were skidding down the glass pane, sliding in paths until they hit the next, but from what he could see between the water lines, Karin was right.

He looked back at her and saw a glint in her eyes. It might've been from his lack of sleep – which was really starting to get to him- but she looked as if she was about to do something incredibly stupid or crazy – or both. He decided to cut her off before she got the chance.

"Still raining though," he replied brusquely, snapping off the longing daze she was starting to develop. "So don't even think about going outside again."

...

.

_5:25 am._

"I-I did it. I really did it. _Yes_!" she threw her hands celebratory into the air, pumping her fist to the still looming clouds overhead. "_Take it_ rock! You just got _skipped!_"

She laughed loudly, spinning on her heel to Hitsugaya standing across form her. "Did you see that? Oh, I don't care, because I did it! Form? Perfect! Skill? Perfect! Distance? _Per_-_fect-amundo_! I cannot be beat!"

Hitsugaya calmly applauded from his place under Karin's fire-red umbrella. "Yeah, yeah, you're so great and so on and so forth. Now are you going to stand out there forever? It's still raining."

"Are you kidding me?" Karin gaped. "No way! I'm getting that rock!"

Hitsugaya's eyes widened in a moment of panic.

"Kurosaki? Kurosaki, no-!"

But it was too late. Karin backed up and ran, feet lifting off the ground into a jump that pushed her into the center of the pond. She crashed into the water and got pulled down, the splashes crashing on top of her until the ripples rolled in on themselves, then, there was quiet.

A moment where nothing moved, then, Karin's head pushed back up and broke through the water, her face it up from grinning like an idiot. She hoisted her hand up and Hitsugaya noticed the small, thin grey rock in her clutch. "I got it!"

Histugaya shook his head. "Never again am I doing this with you."

...

.

_6:00 am._

Hitsugaya came in with two cups steaming and passed on to Karin on the couch; she currently had a towel in her hands, ruffling her wet hair to fruitlessly try drying it. When she smelled the tea her head whipped up and she reached out, making grabbing motions with her hands.

"Ohhhhh, gimmie gimmie." Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow and relinquished one of the cups, watching in interest as all the features of her face seemed to calm down when her fingers made contact with the warm drink. "Ahh," she sighed. "That's sooo nice."

Hitsugaya came across to her side and dropped on to the couch next to her, taking a long sip of his own tea.

"One hour left 'till sunrise."

...

.

_6:25 am._

"Must…" Karin yawned, "…stay awake. Must… stay awake."

"You could try doing work," Hitsugaya suggested.

"_Work?_" Karin said, making a gagging face. "Ew, no."

Hitsugaya shrugged. "Works for me."

"That's because…" Karin started, yawning again between her sentences, "you're a workaholic. You need to learn to _relax._ How to have _fun._"

"I'm fine without it."

"Yeah well, _this_ was fun. You and me." She picked her legs up onto the couch and tucked then under her, wiggling until she was lying down. "We should do this again sometime."

Hitsugaya watched her grab part of the blanket he had on his lap and slide it over her body as she snuggled into a comfortable position. "Maybe one more time," he said softly.

If it had come out a little _too_ gentle, Karin hadn't seemed to notice. "I'll hold you to that," she replied with a lazy smile.

...

.

_7:30 am._

When Hitsugaya woke back up in the early morning, the first thing he saw was sunlight.

It was only a few strips lining up against the adjacent wall, but as soon as his eyes opened just enough to catch a glimpse, he jolted up. He had been fading in and out of consciousness for a while, so when he twisted his body around to the window against the back of the couch and saw the sun peeking out in the sky, he became fully alert again.

The clouds had dissipated back into blue and a light glow spread on the division's barracks, slightly tinting everything in pale orange. He found it strange; he ahd always risen early - partly by habit, partly because he always had to be at wok before everyone else - but he had never bothered to watch the sunrise before. It just always seemed like something on the bottom of his great list of things to do.

He felt a stir beside him and froze. Had he forgotten about keeping Karin up? He swore lightly under his breath and moved to nudge her awake, slapping himself in his mind for his stupidity.

And then he saw the note.

It was laying flat on the table close to them, folded it half. It was too crisp to be accidental, and he saw her writing peeking out from inside the crease. He reached for and unfolded it, scanning the words carefully.

_Toushirou,_ it read.

_You missed it. The sun rose at 7:15, or at least it's 7:15 if I can read that dammed clock of yours right. Either way, you were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you. _

_Thanks a zillion-and-one, you're a real friend._

_Karin._

Hitsugaya smiled at the letter and fell back against the arm of the chair. He looked at the compromising position they had fallen into: both sleeping together on the couch under a shared blanket, her legs –which had somehow sprawled out during the night- laying on top of his lap, and the mess the room had become. He didn't even want to think about what would have happened if they had both fallen asleep without waking up before the rest of the division.

He grunted as he lightly picked up her legs and set them down on the couch, stealthily easing up and examining the room. Hitsugaya crossed his arms and checked the clock for the time, measuring how long he'd approximately have to clean up before the whole barracks were roused awake.

"Well," he said, trying to organize his murky thoughts and get back on pace with reality. "time to start the day."

...

.

_8:00 am. The next day._

"Taichou!" a holler came from outside. Hitsugaya sighed and rubbed his forehead, straining to fill out document without dozing off. After his long night spent awake with Karin, he hadn't quite bounced-back to a normal sleeping schedule yet; the last thing he needed now were rowdy officers.

"_What?_" He yelled, not even bothering to hide his grouchiness.

Apparently it didn't put off the shinigami outside, because he replied back at the top of his lungs: "Taichou, someone vandalized our tree!"

He'd swear he'd heard Karin snicker.

* * *

_A/N:_ I spent a lot of time debating whether or not I should make this chapter it's own story, but in the end I decided to stick it in this anthology instead. What do you think?


	8. Rock Star

A/N: _First off, I'm sorry for the late update. I've had piles and piles of homework to do the past few weeks that I only just got a decent sleep last night. It kind of sucks, but at least it's all over... until next week. -sigh- But I did very well in my assignments/presentation/debate, so I guess it was all worth it._

_This chapter is a request from NanaGoesBlehh! It was a lot of fun to do, and I feel like I finally got the ending I was satisfied with, so I hope you like it!_

Disclaimer:_ I don't own Bleach, and I also don't own the song that will be used in this chapter._

.

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Chapter Eight: Rock Star

.

.

If you didn't look twice, you would never have noticed the few accessories in Karin's room that were genuinely hers. Sure, there were a few important mementos littering the tops of her desk space and hiding in the corners of her shelves, but nothing that came close enough to call immediate attention to. Her room was sparsely set – and it was for a reason.

First off, well, frankly put at least, the acoustics were absolutely _amazing_ the way they were now. And that meant that no one – even including _Yuzu_ - had the permission to rearrange any of her furniture without written consent.

Secondly, (and probably more seriously) Karin had never really been the type of person to hoard unnecessary things or junk before, so why start now?

Sure, she had agreed with Yuzu at the mall one day, it _really had been_ a nice "_duvet_" - but she already had a blanket. What did she need another one with a fancier name for?

So, instead of staying behind and being pushed into another fruitless sales pitch, she had just jumped on the edge of the shopping cart and pushed herself away to the electronic section; after all, there were a killer pair of electric-green headphones in the music department she'd had her eyes on for weeks, and those she'd use _every day._

Which rounded her back to her final point: Kurosaki Karin had a sparsely decorated room, because it was great for dancing.

Karin trounced around the carpeted floor of her room, swaying and swinging her head up and down with the beat of the music. The headphones she had bought yesterday hadn't only been aesthetically pleasing, but they worked really well, too. The music blared out of them at amazing decibels; it was a sound she was sure would kill her hearing one day, but tonight was a special occasion.

It was Friday night. She was decked out in nothing but her pj shorts and tank top, no one but her was home, the evaluation that had been going on all week would _finally_ be over tomorrow, _and_ she was completely sure she had aced it flying colours. After all, it would have been pretty hard not to considering Toushirou had been breathing down her neck the whole time to get it right.

Karin sighed; life was pretty good right now.

_So, so what? I'm still a rock-star!_

Karin's heart pounded in synchronization to the beat and chords. She knew this part – the air guitar section. Or, in her case, real guitar section. She grabbed it off the stand in the corner of her room and slung the red sash over her shoulder, gripping both the neck and body and positioning her hands to begin to play.

She teased the frets and plucked the strings in accordance to the rhythm, only half-decently keeping up with the real music. Eventually, long after she had found herself so immersed in the lyrics that she couldn't tell the difference between the most basic C and A cords, Karin had stopped truly playing and instead switched to air-guitar.

"And guess what? I'm having _more fun_, and now that _we're done_, _I'm gonna SHOW YOU TONIGHT_!"

And sure, even with the insane headphones on, she knew she sucked. Her voice cracked and whipped at the air like a gerbil on helium; not a pretty sound or sight. But she belted it out anyway, her head shaking and hips sashaying like she'd never do in public.

_So, so what? I'm still a rock-star! I got my rock moves, and I don't-_

"_-WANT YOU TONIGHT!" _

It was fantastic. It felt like she was flying. The music carried her in a high only compared to the adrenaline rush of soccer, continuously building, and building, and building_, and build_ – oh. Oh damn.

Her body froze on point the second she caught a glimpse of the mirror. Her hands were clutched in position to pseudo-smash her guitar, and one of her shoulders was still propped up from an awkward dance move. Her hair was in a frazzled mess in her face and her mind felt fuzzy, disconnected from her body. And yet, she could still hear the music.

_No no, no no, I don't want you tonight. You weren't there, I'm gonna show you tonight!_

And suddenly _all_ this had become important, because Hitsugaya Toushirou was at her window.

_No no, no no, I don't want you tonight._

Karin felt so scared she swore she couldn't feel her toes anymore. Honestly, she had battled hollows what seemed like forever and longer, but this, dancing like a total _idiot_ in front of Hitsugaya, was _not okay._

She gulped and readied herself, deciding to fall back to her default setting: violence.

She spun around to her window, fists up and poised to attack, and tried to ignore the flushing feeling that had clawed it's way up the back of her neck to the tips of her ears.

"Toushirou! I swear I'm gonna-!"

But he wasn't there. Karin's hands dropped to her side. The window was closed, the curtains were drawn, and everything was where it was supposed to be – perfectly normal. She furrowed her brows.

"What the…?"

She would've bet her test marks he had _been _there. At her window. There was no way she had just been seeing it. But than again, he had been on her mind a lot lately, with her examination and all, so maybe she really _was_ imagining it…?

She silently hoped so; her dancing skills weren't one of the things she was proud of.

Karin sighed and reached for her iPod, clicking off the song before its finish. It had been a long night, week, _month_, maybe she just needed rest. She turned to her flashing nite-light clock at her bedside and saw it read 9:30. Still pretty early, but she figured she might as well turn in now before she started to get even more weird hallucinations of her captain.

She climbed into bed and lied down - she'd hand he papers in bright and early tomorrow, that would get him off her mind.

Karin closed her eyes and prayed that wouldn't sound as unbelievable to others as it did to her.

..

.

"G'morning Toushirou," Karin announced, pulling into the office with her headphones slung around the back of her neck. "What's up?"

Hitsugaya didn't bother looking up from his work. "To the first, good morning, Kurosaki. To the second, work, as always."

Karin nodded and came over to his desk, sliding a stack of paper onto his desk. "That's cool. Hey, I finished these last night. You want them now?"

Hitsugaya looked up from his own work to the impressive pile of forms in front of him. "You finished everything?" he asked, sounding surprised but genuinely sincere. "That fast? I wan't expecting them until tomorrow at the earliest."

"Well, they were due today, weren't they?"

"Yes... but no one here ever hands _anything_ in on time, especially you."

Karin scoffed. "Wow, nice to know how highly you think of me. And I don't slack off _all_ the time... just sometimes."

Hitsugaya still looked unconvinced. He fingered the top few sheets and pulled some aside, quickly giving them the once-over. "Where there any problems? Anything difficult to fill in?"

"Nope. Everything's in tip-top shape."

"Even the financials? The clauses? Or the -"

"-submissions forms and signatures? _Yes,_ Toushirou, _everything_ is done."

"Well… good then." He pulled the mount closer to him and waved her off. "I suppose you can have the rest of the day off."

Karin stood up straighter. "What, seriously?"

"Yes."

Karin made sure to not respond for a few seconds so long as the threat of him joking was still in the air. Then, following a few seconds of being unresponsive and when she was finally sure he was serious, she cheered.

"_Yes_!" she exclaimed, shooting her arms out and almost tipping over a rickety pile of forms. She cringed when her hands scraped another one of the more substantial piles and sent it falling. "Dammit!" she cursed. "My bad. I _swear_ I'll clean that up later."

Histugaya looked at the documents on the floor and sighed. "Whatever," he said, to tired to care, and grabbed a brown folder from the side of his table to hold it out to her. "Just take this on your way out and drop it off by the Fourth, clear?"

Karin still looked sheepish from the accident, but accepted the paper nevertheless; once again swearing to one day getting around to picking up the paperwork.

After Hitsugaya waved her off a second time, Karin -for the last time- apologized meekly and headed to the door. Aside from the incident, everything had been going perfectly so far; Hitsugaya didn't even seem fazed. That meant the chances that he'd actually been at her window last night went from slim to none. Karin smiled happily and hummed under her breath.

"So, so what? I'm still a rock star, I got my rock moves..."

It wasn't intentional. If he could have prevented it, he would have. But as he was too preoccupied looking through the product of Karin's new work ethic that it just... slipped out.

"..._And I don't need you tonight_."

* * *

A/N: _I realize they're in Japan and the chances of Karin rocking out to "So What" are slim, but I feel like it's a bit of a give-and-take relationship. Oh, and to anyone who says they haven't done this in the privacy of their own rooms before, I don't believe you._


End file.
